Four Years of the NDA Government

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has reviewed the performance of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the end of its fourth year in office on green clearances. The review includes clearance decisions concerning environmental, forest and wildlife clearances, as administered by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) both at the central and the state levels, and some of the key policy measures guiding clearances.

The observations suggest that there is a preoccupation with easing and fast tracking clearances with very few projects being rejected. However, no simultaneous measures are being adopted to improve the clearance mechanisms that can help to mitigate environment problems on ground and ensure that local communities are not alienated. The slew of notifications, guidelines and other directives as issued by the Government from time to time does not reflect any intention to improve on comprehensive assessment before projects are cleared, or ensure compliance and monitoring once projects are in place.